Four Fresh-Faced Biopharmas Reel in Millions in Series A Funds
The cash came rolling in for four biopharma companies Thursday morning, with collective Series A rounds totaling more than $125 million.
Exai Raises $67.5 Million for Cancer Detection Platform
Exai Bio raised $67.5 million to bolster efforts to develop its early cancer detection platform.
Exai's non-invasive, RNA-based liquid biopsy platform can detect cancer early by taking cell-free RNA profiles and evaluating them using machine learning algorithms and artificial intelligence. It focuses on orphan non-coding RNA (oncRNA), which are tiny RNA sequences not found in normal tissues but come in high amounts in tumors.
The technology was developed based on research by Dr. Hani Goodarzi, the company's co-founder and scientific advisor who is also an assistant professor of biochemistry and physics at the University of California, San Francisco. Data from Dr. Goodarzi's I-SPY 2 trial will be presented today at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium in Texas.
Liquid biopsy samples used on the platform show higher specificity and sensitivity among oncRNAs, which enables the accurate diagnosis of cancers. The current test using ctDNA-based liquid biopsy is effective but not as accurate.
"Combining oncRNA technology with cutting-edge machine learning and artificial intelligence to decipher tumor signals and understand the active biology of disease, Exai Bio’s next generation liquid biopsy platform provides actionable information to help inform accurate clinical decisions," said Patrick Arensdorf, chief executive of Exai Bio, in a statement.
Money for Multiple Myeloma
Meanwhile, K36 Therapeutics' fresh $30 million will be used to further develop its lead candidate, KTX-1001, designed to provide targeted therapy with the goal to determine the underlying cause of cancer in patients diagnosed with multiple myeloma.
KTX-1001 is an orally bioavailable, first-in-class selective inhibitor of histone methyltransferase (HMT) MMSET, which is observed to be overexpressed by as much as 20% in multiple myeloma patients that have a t(4;14) translocation. K36 acquired global intellectual property rights to the drug from Novartis Pharmaceuticals.
"K36 has the potential to address a significant unmet medical need in multiple myeloma patients who are t(4;14)-positive and beyond. This investment reflects our confidence in the K36 team and their ability to rapidly advance the development of KTX-1001. We are proud to support the company on its mission to develop therapies for cancer patients on a global scale," said Dr. Chong Xu, a member of the K36 board and partner at F-Prime Capital, the company that co-led the financing, alongside Atlas Ventures and Eight Roads Ventures.
In addition to the successful series A raising, the company named Dr. Lori Kunkel to its board of directors. Dr. Kunkel brings over 20 years of oncology and immunology drug development and strategy experience to this new role.
Neurological Therapies Blooming with $12M Series A
On the neurological front, Bloom Science, a San Diego-based company developing innovative therapeutics for rare diseases such as drug resistant epilepsy and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) announced Thursday the closing of $12 million in Series A financing.
The funds, led by Bayer AG impact investing arm Leaps by Bayer an the ALS Investment Fund, will go to advance its pipeline. This includes lead program BL-001, a microbial drug candidate targeting neuronal hyperexcitation and changes in brain levels of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), being developed for an orphan, drug-resistant epilepsies. The new money will also help Bloom progress its therapeutic candidate for ALS.
Bloom’s drug candidates focus on the microbiome and specifically the gut-immune-brain axis.
“Bloom Science was born out of a vision to harness the gut-immune-brain axis and exponentially expand the landscape of available therapies for patients with severe or untreatable neurological and inflammatory conditions,” said Bloom Founder and CEO Christopher Reyes, Ph.D.
More Money for Neurodegenerative Therapies
Also good to mention is that emerging clinical-stage biopharma KeifeRx yesterday raised $6 million in series A financing to help support its pipeline of developments to treat multiple types of neurodegenerative diseases, including Huntington's disease, Alzheimer's disease, Lewy body dementia, and Parkinson's disease. Its pipeline is led by Nilotinib BE, an oral capsule intended to treat myeloid leukemia.